Haddonfield varsity lacrosse player Mitchell Rothstein discusses what it's like to be one of the top face-off players in the country, as well as a magician on and off the field.
Produced by Joe Lamberti/Staff Photographer

The Quakers finished this season 20-3, a three-win improvement from last year, and captured another South Jersey Group 3 title.

They’re the Courier-Post Team of the Year.

“I love this team,” Knobloch said. “We just had our final meeting in the locker room (on June 8) and I looked around the room and every girl made this team what it was. They were a fun-loving group that really cared for each other. You could never tell who was a freshman, sophomore, junior or senior. They really meshed and became a family. That’s what you want for your team. They made every second fun and memorable and there was never a moment of disappointment or wanting to yell at them for not working hard enough. They did everything we asked of them and had fun doing it.”

Moorestown didn’t enjoy its season finale though, a 9-8 heartbreaker to Summit in the Group 3 state final.

It was the second consecutive year the team was unable to get to the Tournament of Champions – it’s only happened three times since 1997 – but the feeling after this season’s loss was much different than 2016.

“We never really played a complete game,” Knobloch said. “There were times we had a poor first half and turned it on in the second half and vice versa. We were plagued with turnovers this season, killed us in many situations, but I loved the tenacity and aggressiveness and fight back. No matter what happened on the field, they never gave up.”

The best example of that came May 9, when Moorestown rallied from a 7-3 hole against Agnes Irwin (Pa.) with 13 unanswered goals for a 16-8 triumph.

That was one of two revenge wins for the program – the other coming against Garden City a few weeks earlier.

“Those were exciting moments for this team,” Knobloch said. “To be play such high-caliber opponents and come out with a win, that didn’t happen for us last year. Those were highlights.”

The reason for the turnaround was the program’s upperclassmen. Moorestown had 16 seniors this season – the most the school’s ever had.

“Only four played on the field – (Quinn) Nicolai, (Nicki) Dadino, (Brittney) Wright and Emily Culbertson,” Knobloch said. “Those ones not on the field could’ve been bitter, but never were. You never would’ve known they weren’t starters on the field because what they gave to this program meant just as much to anything that happened on the field. Their support was overwhelming.”